With all the talk about Edward Snowden, the notion of whistleblowers is back front and center in the public eye. (Put aside for the moment that Snowden is not likely a “whistleblower” in the legal sense.)

Amidst all of this, though, the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities plays an important role in investigating and prosecuting whistleblower retaliation cases. Much of this is not recognized by the general public who typically view the CHRO has covering discrimination cases.

Indeed, many times the law develops through under-reported cases that you’ll never hear about. The pronouncements may not be sweeping on those cases, but those cases help clarify a point that had been left uncertain before then and may open the door to other arguments as well.

But the court was asked to look at something greater: Under the state’s whistleblower statute, where the CHRO has the power to award “any other damages”, does that include equitable (or non-monetary) relief?

The Appellate Court, in reviewing the language of the statute and the legislative history, concluded “no”. Thus, the ordering of training was improper under the statute. But notably, the court said that because the CHRO was empowered to order reinstatement, the altering of the personnel file was appropriate to achieve that result.

That conclusion is not entirely surprising.

But the Appellate Court goes on a bit further in language that employers may see again in the future and that opens the door a crack to arguments about whether the CHRO can award other relief (perhaps even emotional distress damages) in discrimination cases. (For background, I’ve talked about the CHRO’s attempt to include emotional distress damages as part of the award of damages.)

About Dan

Daniel A. Schwartz created the Connecticut Employment Law Blog in 2007 with the goal of sharing new and noteworthy items relating to employment law with employers, human resources personnel, and executives in Connecticut. Since then, the blog has been recognized by the ABA Journal, and was one of ten named to the “Blog Hall of Fame” in recognition of the blog’s contributions and consistency over the years.